CHENNAI: Decks may have been cleared for former chief minister J Jayalalithaa‘s aide V K Sasikalaa to take over the party reins+ , but a couple of MGR acolytesare making a point with their absence in the AIADMK camp. Panruti S Ramachandran and P H Pandian have not formally extended their support to Sasikalaa so far even as ministers and functionaries have been calling on her+and issuing statements extending their support to her in a bid to consolidate her position in the party and her eventual elevation as general secretary+ .
Ramachandran and Pandian, who have had long stints in the ruling party, were last seen at Rajaji Hall to pay their respects to Jayalalithaa’s body. Ramachandran confined himself to a nearby room while Pandian was spotted standing at the head of the stairs along with MLAs all through the day .After that, the two leaders are not reachable.
The households of both Ramachandran and Pandian maintained that the leaders were out of station. “No comment,” was all they had to say . Ramachandran was among the first to extend support to the faction led by Jayalalithaa when the party split in the wake of AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran’s death in December 1987. A former minister, he was briefly associated with PMK and DMDK and rejoined AIADMK in 2014 in the presence of Jayalalithaa. He was made organising secretary and later party spokesman. He was seen actively defending the party during TV debates, and offering bytes to the waiting media at Apollo Hospitals about Jayalalithaa’s recovery .
Pandian made headlines in December 2011, the day after Jayalalithaa expelled Sasikalaa, her husband M Natarajan and 12 of their associates for antiparty activities. “She governs not for one family , but crores of families,” Pandian said, indicating that the party was with Jayalalithaa in her “hour of crisis”. Pandian, one of the founder office-bearers (convenor of the legal wing) of the party , was a legal advisor to Jayalalithaa between 1996 and 1999, when she faced more than a dozen cases. He was made Parliamentary party leader in Lok Sabha in 1999.
Pandian’s family enjoyed a good rapport with Jayalalithaa. In a surprise move, she removed Pandian from the post of organising secretary in 2016.
Bureau Report
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